Kanye, Mariah, Gwen, but few shockers among awards finalists

Published 4:00 am, Friday, December 9, 2005

Coldplay got the cold shoulder. Mariah Carey was forgiven for "Glitter." And Kanye West's big mouth didn't stop him from coming out on top once again. Otherwise, there were no huge surprises about the list of nominees for the 48th annual Grammy Awards, which were announced Thursday at New York's Gotham Hall.

There were the usual moments of knee-slapping hilarity, most of them unintentional. Paul McCartney's middling "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" hardly warrants inclusion in the album of the year category. Seal's cover of "Walk on By," heard by precisely no one, made a curious choice for best pop male vocal performance. Meanwhile, the field of nominees for the best solo rock vocal performance -- Eric Clapton, Robert Plant, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Santana collaborator Rob Thomas -- confirmed that there's always a table reserved for old white rockers near the front of the stage.

It was less of a shock to see that rapper Kanye West and soul crooner John Legend each got eight nominations, matching comeback queen Mariah Carey, whose "The Emancipation of Mimi" goes up for album of the year and ballad "We Belong Together" for song and record of the year. Will there even be enough time during the broadcast to make it through all her costume changes?

Also getting multiple nominations were 50 Cent, Gwen Stefani, U2 and Bruce Springsteen, whose "Devils & Dust" was another surprise contender for song of the year, along with "We Belong Together," Legend's "Ordinary People," Rascal Flatts' "Bless the Broken Road" and U2's "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own."

That was one of the five nominations earned by Grammy favorites U2. The group's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" is up for album of the year against Carey, West and McCartney as well as Stefani's multiplatinum solo debut, "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." Paul is going to be so dead.

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After doing quite well last year, East Bay trio Green Day got another nod for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," which is up for record of the year alongside "We Belong Together," West's "Gold Digger," the Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc." and Stefani's "Hollaback Girl." North Bay resident Bonnie Raitt, meanwhile, got her obligatory nomination in the best female pop vocal performance category.

Coldplay, whose "X&Y," one of the year's biggest albums with hits like "Speed of Sound," was shut out of the album, song and record of the year categories. The British group settled for a nomination for rock album of the year, in which it will compete with U2, the Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters and Neil Young. Does that mean Gwyneth and Chris are going to be seated between Carrot Top and Kevin Federline?

And, sadly, this just wasn't the Blow Monkeys' year. Again.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Symphony, which seems to show up with great regularity in the Grammy classical nominations, was shut out this year, despite releasing two additions to its continuing Mahler recording projects, the Ninth and Seventh symphonies. However, Kent Nagano, whose several jobs include conducting the Berkeley Symphony, was the conductor of the Harmonia Mundi recording of Bernstein's "Mass," which was nominated for best choral performance. Members of the Pacific Mozart Ensemble were among the soloists on the recording.

In addition, San Francisco's Kronos Quartet and Asha Bhosle's CD, "You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood," has received a nomination for best contemporary world music album.

And the Bay Area's Turtle Island String Quartet was nominated along with the Ying Quartet for the best classical crossover album, "4 + Four."

The Grammys will be awarded Feb. 8 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will air live on CBS.